Dear Commons Community,

Timothy Egan, former Times correspondent, was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that wrote the series “How Race Is Lived in America.” He is the author of several books, including “The Worst Hard Time,” a history of the Dust Bowl, for which he won the National Book Award, and most recently, “The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America.”

In today’s NY Times, he has an opinion piece on Governor Rick Perry and his likely entrance into the Republican Party presidential nomination race.  He does not paint a pretty picture of Perry particularly his “tendency to use prayer as public policy”.

“To Jews, Muslims, non-believers and even many Christians, the Biblical bully that is Rick Perry  must sound downright menacing, particularly when he gets into religious absolutism. ‘As a nation, we must call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles,’ he said last week.”

Egan makes the following suggestion:

“As a lone citizen, [Perry is] free to advocate Jesus-driven public policy imperatives.  But coming from someone who wants to govern this great mess of a country with all its beliefs, Perry’s language is an insult to the founding principles of the republic.  Substitute Allah or a Hindu God for Jesus and see how that polls.”

I highly recommend this article and may God save us from the Perrys of the world.

Tony